Authenticity seems more a matter of ranges and limitations than of outright prescriptions.
- Jeffrey Steingarten, The Man Who Ate Everything

Saturday, June 18, 2011

The Jackson Plan, Duxton Hill

This was a new British styled gastrobar (40 Duxton Hill, tel : +65 6866 1988) located but a few units away from L'Entrecote. Apparently, the intriguing name which this establishment carries comes from a plan which was done to engineer district distribution in this country back in 1822. Shortly after the arrival of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. Then in recent years, an Italian man Beppe De Vito, who had brought us Il Lido and Forlino decided that it was probably a good idea to turn the name of that into one of a restaurant and watering hole.

How the reconciliation had happened, I did not know.

Westons organic cider

The bar features a bunch of ciders that I know next to nothing about. I decided on a bottle of Westons organic cider by virtue of name and then decided that it wasn't really what I had been looking forward in a cider. However, their very helpful wait staff did follow up with a recommendation of the vintage cider of the same brand. That was pretty good stuff with what I felt was a better balance of body, apple citrus and of course, more alcohol. We had seconds.

Potted smoked mackerel, rye toast

The smoked mackerel was unexpectedly good. Honestly, it probably didn't look like much to anyone and I was in fact, expecting bits of things I would recognize as fish instead of an oatmeal paste. The aroma of the smoked fish was nothing short of appetizing and we enjoyed it enough that the lemon was left untouched. But the story of the lemon doesn't end here.

Cured ox tongue, celeriac & caper coleslaw

I had little idea of what to expect for the ox tongue and certainly, didn't imagined it to be soft and velvet like on the surface - much like thick wet cardboard. Lol. Jokes aside, the flavors were a little subdued for my liking, but if you had recalled the lemon that was left behind earlier...a squeeze of it along with a sprinkle of salt did quite a bit to animate the flavors of the ox tongue.

Scallops, black pudding, smoked cheese

The scallops and blood pudding were enjoyable. Almost everything came across as slightly sweet. The pudding tasted very much like sweet corn with a meaty afternote. The light tasting mashed potatoes were creamy and addictive. What was described as smoked cheese was actually aburied (torched). I'm not even sure if it was all cheese as it was a tad too fluffy and creamy.

Beef shin, bone marrow, potato cakes

This was probably the least exciting of what we had. The beef shin was tender, but much too lean for my preferences and the bone was a little small. I think it would be fair to mention that the French guys nearby do a much better job on with that. All that capers really did nothing to help neither.

Real chips

Thick cut fried potatoes. One can even taste the natural sweetness from the tubers. Enjoyed it.

Eccles cake, rum and raisin ice cream

I had never heard of an Eccles cake until today. It was apparently a sort of fruit danish with sugar sprinkled over the top. It might have been great if it were freshly made instead of being a little chewy and cold. The scoop of ice cream which was probably made of half raisins could have done with more rum. I didn't feel that dessert was that much to get excited over.

2 comments:

Glad to see you enjoyed the food here at The Jackson Plan. Hope to see you again soon, and if you love fish, try our Fisherman's Pie, or if you prefer something meatier, the Saltmarsh Lamb is a must-try!